Pralamba Joins the Game

Transcript

Evidence labels distinguish sourced context from the episode's fictional story.

1. Come close, and listen. It is evening in a quiet Canadian neighbourhood. Mira, who is eleven, has a small lamp glowing on her desk and a notebook open in front of her. Her little brother Kannan, who is seven, is bouncing at the end of her bed, trying very hard to sit still. "Tell me a story with a mystery in it," he says. "But a safe one. With a happy ending. And just a little shiver in the middle." Mira smiles. "I know the perfect one. It has a game, a stranger who joins in, and a very strong boy named Balarama." Outside, the wind rustles the trees, almost like banyan leaves far away. "Ready? Then off we go, to the cowherd village of Gokula."

   Evidence:Fictional scene

2. "A stranger?" says Kannan, pulling his blanket up to his chin. "Is he scary?" Mira shakes her head. "A little sneaky, maybe. But we already know the ending, and that makes all the difference. The spooky part is only in the hush, and the waiting, and the sounds. And I promise there is cheering at the end." She taps her notebook. "Here is our mystery. How do you spot someone who is pretending, when he looks exactly like everybody else?" Kannan sits up straight. "I notice details. I would spot him. Probably." "Probably," says Mira, grinning. "Let's find out."

   Evidence:Fictional scene

3. One bright day near the river, Krishna and his brother Balarama were playing with the other cowherd boys. There was laughing, and shouting, and the soft jingle of cowbells drifting over the meadow. And into that happy game came a visitor nobody had invited. His name was Pralamba, and he was an Asura, a kind of demon. In the old stories, he hoped to carry the two brothers away in secret. But he knew he could not stroll up looking like a demon. So he took the shape of a cowherd boy, an ordinary human shape, and he slipped in among the children. Not one of them suspected a thing.

   Evidence:Supported

4. Pralamba played along. He smiled when they smiled. He clapped when they clapped. He even laughed at the jokes. But all the while, he was quietly looking for a weak spot. He glanced at Krishna and thought, no, this one is far too strong for me to handle. So he turned his eyes to the other brother, Balarama, the son of Rohini. In this telling, Pralamba decided that Balarama was the one he would carry away. All he needed now was the right moment. All he needed was a game.

   Evidence:Supported

5. "Wait," says Kannan. "Why didn't Krishna notice? I thought Krishna noticed everything!" Mira thinks about it. "The story only says that nobody suspected him. The boys were busy having fun. When you are in the middle of a good game, you are not looking around for trouble, and that is not a fault. That is just what playing is like." Kannan nods slowly. "So the stranger was clever." "Clever," says Mira, "but not clever enough. Listen."

   Evidence:Supported

6. Then the boys decided to play a leaping game. They split into pairs, and hop, hop, hop, they bounded along the grass. Sridama and Balarama were matched up with Pralamba. And the rules were simple and funny. The losers had to carry the winners on their shoulders, all the way to the Bhandira fig tree, and then all the way back again. Everyone knows a good carrying race makes for giggles and wobbles. The boys sprang and bounced, calling out to each other, and the game rolled on across the meadow.

   Evidence:Supported

7. Picture it with me. The great fig tree stands far off, its branches wide and shady, its leaves whispering in the breeze. The sun is warm. The grass bends under running feet. Somewhere a cow lows, long and slow. Everything feels ordinary and happy, and that is exactly what makes the next part so strange. Because round the edge of the game, one player is no longer quite what he seems, and the whole meadow is about to hold its breath.

   Evidence:Fictional scene

8. Now Pralamba's side lost, and so it was his turn to carry. He bent down, and Balarama climbed up onto his shoulders. And then Pralamba did not turn back toward the others. He ran off. Faster and faster, like a cloud carrying the moon along the sky, away from the fig tree, away from the meadow, away from the players. Thump, thump, thump went his feet. The cowbells grew faint. The laughing grew faint. And Balarama, sitting high up, began to feel the ground rush by in a way that no friendly game ever should.

   Evidence:Supported

9. And then, under Balarama's weight, the disguise began to slip. The cowherd boy grew, and grew, and grew. Up he stretched, huge as a hill, with a shining crown on his head and garlands about his neck. And his eyes! They were as big as wheels. That was the stranger's true face, the one he had hidden all along. But Balarama did not scream, and he did not freeze. He called out, loud and clear, to his brother. "Krishna! A demon in disguise is carrying me away!"

   Evidence:Supported

10. Kannan has hidden half his face behind a pillow. "Mira? Is Balarama going to be all right?" Mira puts a hand on his shoulder. "Let's take one slow breath together, in, and out. Remember what I promised. This story ends with cheering, and everybody who matters is safe and sound. Also notice something. Balarama called out, so Krishna heard him, and he was not alone. Helpers can hear us when we speak up." Kannan lowers the pillow. "Okay. I'm listening again."

    Evidence:Fictional scene

11. Krishna heard. He was never far, and he did not panic. He reminded Balarama of his own great strength, as if to say, you already know what to do. And Balarama, hearing his brother's calm words, remembered. He laughed. Yes, he laughed! Then, with his knees and his fists, he overcame the towering stranger. The demon's trick was finished. He fell to the ground, and he did not rise again. There was no more running and no more hiding. The meadow was quiet for a moment, quiet and still.

    Evidence:Supported

12. And then, hurrah! The other cowherd boys came hurrying up, surprised and so very glad. "Well done!" they shouted. "Well done, Balarama!" They praised him again and again, and their voices rang out across the grass. Then Balarama, with Krishna right beside him, walked back to Gokula. The cowbells jingled again. The evening light turned golden. And the brothers went home together, safe and sound, with a whole crowd of friends chattering all around them.

    Evidence:Supported

13. Now, Pralamba was not just any stranger. There was a king named Kansa, who was no friend to Krishna. One day Kansa called together his leading Asuras. He counted Pralamba among them, along with Kesin, Dhenuka, Putana and Arishta. That is quite a list of names. And so, when Pralamba came to the meadow in disguise, he was not a wandering trickster. He was one of the demons Kansa trusted most.

    Evidence:Supported

14. But what happened to those demons afterward? Later in the story, the cowherds sit and list the wonders of Krishna, and Pralamba's defeat is one of them. Later still, a wandering sage named Narada comes to Kansa with news. He tells the king that Pralamba and other demons have been destroyed. So the game at the Bhandira tree was not forgotten. It became part of the tale people told, a bright memory of how a disguise failed, and how a boy remembered his own strength.

    Evidence:Supported

15. Mira closes her notebook. "So, Kannan. Our mystery. How do you spot a stranger who is pretending?" Kannan thinks hard. "You watch what he does when it matters. Pralamba was nice during the game, but then he ran the wrong way." Mira laughs. "That is a very good detail to notice." Kannan beams. "And you do not have to be scared, because when you call out, someone hears you." "Exactly," says Mira. Outside, the wind has gone gentle, and the lamp glows soft and golden on the desk.

    Evidence:Fictional scene

16. Here is something to talk about together before sleep. Have you ever been in the middle of a game and noticed that something felt a little bit off? What did you do? Who could you call out to, the way Balarama called to Krishna? And what is one thing you are really strong or good at, something you could remember on a day you need it?

    Evidence:Fictional scene

17. Mira turns off the lamp. Kannan yawns, a great big yawn, and snuggles under his blanket. "Goodnight, Balarama," he murmurs. "Goodnight, Krishna." And far away in the story, the cowbells jingle, the fig tree whispers, and the cowherd boys play on under a golden sky. Goodnight, listeners. Sleep well, and come back soon for another story.

    Evidence:Fictional scene

Source notes

These notes show what a source supports. They do not turn fictional dialogue or scenes into historical claims.

• Vishnu Purana (English translation, Internet Archive scan in.ernet.dli.2015.180620)

  Narrated by Parasara in the text; translator not named in the excerpt

  Evidence:Supported

  Krishna reminded Balarama of his strength. Balarama laughed and overcame Pralamba with his knees and fists, and the demon fell and died. The cowherds cheered 'Well done!' and Balarama returned to Gokula with Krishna.

  Claims: c5 · Evidence: e135-balarama-defeats-pralamba-v1

  View the registered source

• Vishnu Purana (English translation, Internet Archive scan in.ernet.dli.2015.180620)

  Narrated by Parasara in the text; translator not named in the excerpt

  Evidence:Supported

  The boys paired up for a leaping game. Sridama and Balarama were matched with Pralamba. The losers had to carry the winners on their shoulders to the Bhandira fig tree and back. Pralamba put Balarama on his shoulders and ran off. Under the weight he grew huge, with a crown, garlands and wheel-sized eyes. Balarama called to Krishna that a disguised demon was carrying him away.

  Claims: c3, c4 · Evidence: e135-pralamba-carries-balarama-away-v1

  View the registered source

• Vishnu Purana (English translation, Internet Archive scan in.ernet.dli.2015.180620)

  Narrated by Parasara in the text; translator not named in the excerpt

  Evidence:Supported

  In the Vishnu Purana translation, the Asura Pralamba came while Krishna and Balarama were playing, hoping to carry them away secretly. He took a human cowherd form and mixed in with the boys unsuspected. Pralamba judged Krishna too strong to handle, so he decided to target Balarama, the son of Rohini.

  Claims: c1, c2 · Evidence: e135-pralamba-disguised-as-cowherd-v1

  View the registered source

• Vishnu Purana (English translation, Internet Archive scan in.ernet.dli.2015.180620)

  Narrated by Parasara in the text; translator not named in the excerpt

  Evidence:Supported

  Kansa counted Pralamba among his leading Asuras, along with Kesin, Dhenuka, Putana and Arishta. Later the cowherds list Pralamba's death among Krishna's wonders, and Narada tells Kansa that Pralamba and other demons have been destroyed.

  Claims: c6 · Evidence: e135-pralamba-named-among-kansas-asuras-v1

  View the registered source